Jimoh Abdulquadir Iyanda
The recent articles by Comrade Yusuf Bolakale and Hon. Salahudeen Lukman are not mere political grumblings, they are a mirror held up to the reality of governance in Kwara State. Their assessments are trenchant because they speak to a growing disillusionment among the very citizens who once celebrated the “Otoge” revolution that brought Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to power. The time has come not to dismiss these voices as opposition rhetoric but to engage with their substance.
Comrade Yusuf Bolakale’s argument is rooted in a simple truth: no victory is sustainable when the very coalition that delivered it is betrayed. The Otoge movement was a collective uprising against impunity and stagnation, yet those who championed it were cast aside for personal loyalists with no strategic value. Instead of strengthening governance through diversity and inclusion, the Governor has reduced his team to a chorus of “yes-men,” weakening both political vibrancy and administrative effectiveness.
Yusuf Bolakale rightly questions the so-called “vision” of the current administration. Projects with inflated costs, poorly executed roadworks, unnecessary bridges, and digital gimmickry mask a deeper absence of transformational policy. Kwara needs a roadmap, not repackaged projects with zero innovation. Where are the new housing schemes, industrial parks, or innovations in healthcare programs and agriculture? Development has become synonymous with rebranding rather than reform. This is a system where our population continuously languishes in poverty, ignorance, and diseases.
Truthfully, life has become increasingly challenging for many party stalwarts. Beneath their smiles lies silent hardship, as the system has, for many, translated into a pathway to poverty. In such a reality, how can we truly describe this form of governance as a service to humanity?
Hon. Salahudeen Lukman lays bare a bitter truth: Governor AbdulRazaq’s preference for political servitude over professional expertise has made his cabinet a parade of mediocrity. Rather than empower capable technocrats, he has created a system where competence is sacrificed at the altar of loyalty. When executive meetings are scarce and the Deputy Governor is rendered redundant, governance becomes nothing more than a one-man show lacking deliberative depth.
The exaggerated claims over federal appointments are not only misleading but undermine the merit of those who earned their place through personal excellence and strategic networking. The list provided by Hon. Lukman reveals that more than 90% of the federal appointments of Kwarans were secured independently of the Governor’s political machinery. This alone speaks volumes about the weakness of the leadership and its limited reach beyond the borders of the state.
My wake-up call to Governor AbdulRazaq is that the time for theatrics is over. Kwara State is not a theatre for rehearsed applause and photo-ops; it is a land full of potential, waiting for competent and visionary leadership. The people of Kwara voted for change, not chains; for inclusion, not isolation; and for progress, not propaganda.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq must wake up to the truth: governance is not about survival, it is about service. It is not too late to reset the course. Reconnect with your Otoge comrades, empower your cabinet with competence, prioritize long-term infrastructure, and engage the people, not with slogans, but with sincerity.
Kwara deserves better. And the man who once rode the wave of revolution must now ask himself: will I be remembered as the symbol of change or as the biggest disappointment of the movement that birthed me?
History is watching…
Comr. Jimoh Abdulquadir Iyanda,
A Realist from Moro LGA, Kwara State.
12th April 2025
